Challenges of Human Resource Management in the Armed Forces of

Ukraine

VITA HALUSHKA

National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine,

15 Heroiv Oborony, Kyiv,

UKRAINE

HRYHORII TIKHONOV

Command and Staff Institute of the Troops (Forces) Combat Use,

National Defense University of Ukraine named after Ivan Chernyakhovsky,

28 Povitroflotskyy avenue, Kyiv, 03049.

UKRAINE

IVAN TIKHONOV

Department of Tactics and Combined Arms Disciplines,

Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National University of Air (KNAFU),

77/79 Sumskaya street, Kharkiv, 61001.

UKRAINE

YURII MYKOLENKO

Command and Staff Institute of the Troops (Forces) Combat Use,

National Defense University of Ukraine named after Ivan Chernyakhovsky,

28 Povitroflotskyy avenue, Kyiv, 03049.

UKRAINE

LIUDMYLA DROK

Department of the Military training,

National Defense University of Ukraine named after Ivan Chernyakhovsky,

2/32 Aviakonstruktora Antonova street, Kyiv, 03049.

UKRAINE

Abstract: - The purpose of the article is to identify challenges of human resource management tools in the

Armed Forces of Ukraine and develop possible ways to address them in the time of Russia's military aggression

against Ukraine and a radical reform of Ukraine's defense sphere. A study of the defense reform

implementation has shown that, despite the introduction of new principles and methods of work with military

personnel, there are still some shortcomings in human resource management. It is possible to overcome these

challenges through the improvement of mechanisms for training, retraining and advanced training of

servicemen, certification, rotation and strengthening the monitoring of human resource services. As well this

article describes ways to improve management such as planning of personnel administration, improvement of

educational methods in military educational institutions, introduction of individual plans into the educational

process and retraining / advanced training of personnel. So following these instructions step by step can

significantly improve handling of military servants of Ukraine. And finally, it is really important to pay

attention on all the details during the war. We proposed a research hypothesis — the problems of insufficiently

effective implementation of human resource management in the AF of Ukraine originate from imperfect

personnel management, and can be solved by engaging personnel management practices applied in the

corporate sector.

Key-Words: - human resource management, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukraine, War, Military, Reforms.

Received: June 27, 2021. Revised: December 28, 2021. Accepted: January 19, 2022. Published: January 20, 2022.

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1 Introduction

The events of 2014, when the Russian Federation

(hereinafter — Russia) annexed Crimea, triggered

an armed conflict in the eastern territories of

Donetsk and Luhansk regions, demonstrated

extremely low combat capability of the Armed

Forces of Ukraine (hereinafter - the AF of Ukraine)

and their complete unpreparedness to defend

territorial integrity of the state. At the beginning of

Russian military aggression, the regular number of

the AF of Ukraine did not exceed 120 thousand

people, while about 5-6 thousand servicemen were

combat-ready [1]. Therefore, in 2014, the first steps

were taken towards reforming the AF of Ukraine

and the first task at that time was to increase the

number of troops (forces). The process of reforming

the AF of Ukraine was complicated by the actual

conduct of hostilities, a significant lack of resources,

time and urgent necessity of forming new

mechanisms of the state defense capabilities’

management. Despite the obstacles, since 2016 the

defense reform in Ukraine has become large-scale

and planned, systematic workforce reforms have

been implemented.

On 12 June 2020, Ukraine was recognized by

the NATO North Atlantic Council as a member of

NATO Enhanced Capabilities Program. In practice,

this means increase of cooperation between Ukraine

and the Alliance: expanded access to training

programs, exchange of experience and information.

Pursuant to the intensification of military

cooperation, the present agenda includes the issue of

bringing the basic principles of the AF of Ukraine

functioning in compliance with the international

operation principles of the NATO member states’

armed forces, in particular in the field of human

resource policy.

Reforming the human resource management

system of the AF of Ukraine has been identified as

one of the key areas of defense reform in Ukraine.

Among the main human resource policy challenges

of the security and defense sector, identified in the

Strategic Defense Bulletin of Ukraine were the

issues of manning the armed forces during

mobilization, low professional level of military

personnel, insufficient military reserve, problems of

transition to all volunteer force recruitment of the

armed froces [2]. This management system is aimed

at long-term interaction of all employees in order to

improve the quality of both goods and services

offered by the company, its high productivity and its

achievements [15].

Recently, state-building bodies have adopted

basic regulations outlining the principles of defense

reform, in particular those relating to human

resource policy. However, today the main challenge

is the development of mechanisms for implementing

human resource policy in the AF of Ukraine. The

desire to comply with NATO standards necessitates

the development of new approaches to human

resource management in the defense sector.

It is worth repeating that the beginning of the

armed aggression of the Russian Federation against

Ukraine and the increase in the size of the army

gave impetus to a change in approaches to human

resource management. However, today the Armed

Forces lag far behind the civilian sector in this

respect, as the army still mostly uses a system of

negative motivation, and the personnel management

system does not adopt the experience and

experience of the civil sector [33].

Today's current challenges require informed

decisions about force structure requirements,

recruitment and retention programs, well-being and

staff readiness programs, both from the point of

view of the individual and from the point of view of

units. Personnel managers must acquire a number of

professional and specialized skills to address the

above challenges and moderate programs that

include both the functions and integration systems

of the HR life cycle model [14].

In this article, we proceed from the definition -

"Military force", which should be understood as a

system and related processes that provide a

competent person with relevant qualifications, in the

right position at a particular time or in other worlds

to achieve a balance between " space "(demand

side) with" face "(supply side) [16].

Regardless of the strategies for managing their

own defense institutions, each nation still needs its

own common concept, as well as policies and

visions, to manage its own security forces and the

people in them. HRM is combined with elements

such as resource allocation and logistics to form

pillars that support the overall management of the

country's defense sector [17].

The purpose of the article is to identify

challenges of human resource management tools in

the Armed Forces of Ukraine and develop possible

ways to address them in the time of Russia's military

aggression against Ukraine and a radical reform of

Ukraine's defense sphere.

During the preparation of the article, foreign and

Ukrainian scientific research on the topic of human

resources management in the armed forces was

analyzed. In the context of the analysis of foreign

experience the researches were analyzed: Patrichi

(2015); Narang (2016); Goede (2020); LeMoyne

(2004); Stanit, Rizescu (2012); Leonard (2017);

Bradley, Mills, Narayanan, Gold, Wirth, Ausink,

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Bennett, McGarvey, Ali, Syme, Williams (2021);

Winkler, Shanley, Schank, Crowley, Mattock,

Green, Madison, McDonald, Steinberg (1999);

Drain, Sampson, Billing, Burley, Linnane, Groeller

(2015); Shanley, Winkler (1999); Mcardle, Kehr,

Colabatistto (2020); Brading (2020).

Among Ukrainian scientists, the relevant studies

were: Bielileskov (“The main problem of our army

is limited resources. Official website of the Ministry

of Defense of Ukraine”); Krasota, Trakaliuk,

Shtanko (“Experience of reforming the human

resource management system in the Armed Forces

of Ukraine”); Medvid, Polovinkin (“Human

resource management system in the Armed Forces

of Ukraine: features of development”); Коval

(“Improving the state human resourse policy in the

Armed Forces of Ukraine”); Gozuvatenko

(“Enchancement of the military training and career

growth system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,

taking into account the experience of leading

countries”); Hetmanchuk, Fakhurdinova (“Ukraine

and NATO standards: what has been done during

Zelensky's presidency?”); Komisarova (“How close

the Ukrainian army is to NATO standards. The

Deputy Minister of Defense is responsible”);

Berezynsʹkyy (“Improving military social standards:

what they plan to change”). It is worth paying

special attention, firstly, to “The Vision of the

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for

the development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for

the next 10 years” from the Ministry of Defense of

Ukraine, and secondly, supported by The

International Renaissance Foundation research:).

Why are servicemen discharged from the army?

Public version. The International Renaissance

Foundation. (2021) and Why are servicemen

discharged from the army? (2021).

This article describes ways to improve

management, such as personnel administration

planning, improving training methods in military

schools, implementing individual plans in the

training process, and retraining / advanced training

of Ukrainian army personnel in the context of its

institutional and organizational reform.

2 Analysis of Recent Research and

Publications

Attention to the issue of ensuring effective human

resource management of the AF of Ukraine is due to

the importance of the human factor in building the

defense potential of the state. The issue of

transformation of human resource management

principles in the AF of Ukraine is a promising

subject of research and has its own specifics. When

studying the human resource management system in

the armed forces, one should take into account the

differences between the military and corporate

sector.

Patrichi, analyzing the difference between

human resource management in military and non-

military organizations, identifies the following

shortcomings of the defense sector: lack of

flexibility, longer terms for recruitment and

recruitment only for the entry level, and not for any

level, as in corporate organizations, promotion

begins within the system and only rank by rank [3].

However, notes that it is impossible to reject the

general principles of human resource management,

which must be adapted to the defense sphere,

outlines the tasks of human resource management in

the armed forces which is a development of a

human resource management system capable to

provide the necessary training, build an effective

structure of the armed forces with proper

distribution of specialists according to the

specification, motivate servicemen to serve and

perform their work properly.

Krasota, Trakaliuk, Shtanko describe the

tendencies that determine the impact of the

personnel management system of NATO member

states on the staffing system of the AF of Ukraine

and note that the main resource of the Allied armies

is human resource, therefore, the development

effective human resource management in the

countries of the North Atlantic Treaty is given

considerable attention [4].

Narang also notes that the most important

resource in an organisation, particularly in the

armed forces, is people. According to the researcher,

human resource management in the armed forces

can be considered in terms of a soft and hard

approach. A hard approach sees servicemen as a

resource for achieving organizational goals, while a

soft approach provides incentives to achieve results

[5]. Considering the functions of human resource

management in the armed forces, Narang identifies

the following subsystems:

1) planning, resource allocation;

2) recruitment and selection;

3) education, training and development;

4) remuneration;

5) relationships with employees.

Goede, considering the subsystems of human

resource management in the armed forces, identifies

the following: working conditions and the

environment; guarantee of social protection and safe

workplace; providing opportunities for education

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and training; recognition and awards; regular

evaluation of performance [6].

A brief analysis of the achievements of foreign

scientists allows us to formulate a conclusion that

when planning the human resource management

system of the AF of Ukraine it is necessary to take

into account the existing general corporate/industrial

approaches to the organization of personnel

management systems. The implementation of

defense reform in Ukraine shows that the formation

of human resource management is based on the

following trends: the withdrawal from the

command-administrative principles and the

transition from a nomenclature system to a

centralized system of career pursuit. In particular,

A. Medvid notes that the functioning of the AF of

Ukraine has long been based on the nomenclature

approach, when the cumbersome structure of the

armed forces did not allow addressing challenges in

a timely manner, and the military did not apply an

individual approach [7]. This was confirmed by the

problems of mobilization deployment of the AF of

Ukraine in response to the armed aggression of

Russia. According to O. Koval, the first stages of

mobilization, conducted in 2014-2015, proved the

inefficiency of human resource management and

decision-making methods, in particular, regarding

the personnel accounting system.

According to O. Hrynenko, the factors that had a

negative impact on partial mobilization include the

shortcomings of the legal framework, reservation of

persons liable for military service the absence of

their single state register, the absence of servicemen

social security and as a result low performance

motivation [8].

Today, the transformation of the human resource

management system in the AF of Ukraine is

identified as a key area, the main goal of public

policy is the professionalization of the AF of

Ukraine. According to O. Koval, manning of the AF

of Ukraine with trained and motivated personnel is,

among other things, one of the requirements for the

defense sphere to comply with NATO criteria [9].

At the same time, if we focus not only on NATO

criteria but also on NATO standards, it should be

noted that as of January 2021, Ukraine has adopted

292. At the same time, according to experts, the

New Europe Center (Ukraine) is an obstacle and

challenge to implementing standards. NATO in

Ukraine is: “Irrational use of human resources. The

increase in time spent on implementing NATO

standards is due not only (and perhaps not so much)

to the low level of language training, but also to the

irrational use of personnel with the appropriate level

of language proficiency and the necessary

professional training in the process of implementing

the standards. This problem is directly related to the

lack of change in approaches and transformation of

professional culture in the systems of the leadership

of the defence forces. There is a slight renewal of

staff in the relevant bodies (management positions

are mostly held by representatives of the "old

cohort"), and the lack of career opportunities for

representatives with new approaches, the experience

of internships in prestigious educational institutions

of NATO member states, proper understanding of

how the armed forces of Allies function” [32].

However, despite the generally positive shift in

the defense sector reform, in terms of the

transformation of the human resource management

system, there are some difficulties in reforms

implementation, and not all developed personnel

administration mechanisms are implemented

properly.

For example, G. Gozuvatenko notes that today

the management of military career is characterized

by a number of shortcomings, including subjectivity

in personnel decisions made by commanders, which

result in the delay of the promotion of professional

servicemen to higher positions in other military

units, and vice versa, referral to training of persons

with low discipline, in order to "get rid" of their

presence in the unit [10].

Thus, the purpose of our study is to identify

challenges of human resource management in the

AF of Ukraine and develop possible ways to address

them.

Research hypothesis — the problems of

insufficiently effective implementation of human

resource management in the AF of Ukraine

originate from imperfect personnel management,

and can be solved by engaging personnel

management practices applied in the corporate

sector.

3 Presentation of the Main Research

Material

3.1 Defense Reform Improvements

In general, it should be noted that the monitoring of

the implementation of defense reform in Ukraine

testifies to its success. This fact is confirmed by

international studies, for example, in the Global Fire

Power rating for 2020, Ukraine took 27th place out

of 138 countries (last year Ukraine was in 29th

place). Such results indicate positive trends in

military capacity building [11].

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The state funding for the defense sector is

gradually increasing. Thus, in 2020, in accordance

with the Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of

Ukraine”, expenditures on national security and

defense amount to UAH 245.8 billion, which is

almost 5.5% of GDP (including UAH 135.5 billion

on defense or 3% of GDP) [12]. According to

NATO member states' standards, defense budget

expenditures are divided into the maintenance of the

armed forces — 50%, armaments development

expenditures — 30%, troop training expenditures —

20%.

According to the Vision of the General Staff of

the AF of Ukraine for the development of the AF of

Ukraine for the next 10 years, the army should be

respected among the population, allies, follow its

traditions, be trained, manned with motivated

personnel, equipped with modern weapons and

military equipment, capable to operate

independently and jointly with Ukraine's partners

[13]. In turn, this confirms that one of the main

priorities of defense reform is the training of

servicemen.

Human resource management in the defense

sphere, in particular, servicemen training and career

management, is an extremely important area of

public policy. Human resources services

(management) are entrusted with the functions of

working with servicemen, planning personnel work,

forming a reserve, improving their professional

level.

As part of the defense reform, the work of

military service recruitment bodies was radically

changed - the former military commissariats, which

worked mostly using administrative and coercive

methods, were transformed into territorial

recruitment centers that use corporate recruitment

tools.

Measures were also taken to optimize the

organizational structure of the human resource

services of the AF of Ukraine, in particular, their

functions were clarified, and their number was

increased; the human resource center of the Land

Forces of the AF of Ukraine and the human resource

center of the Naval Forces of the AF of Ukraine

were established.

A comprehensive military performance

evaluation system was introduced. This system

involves annual performance evaluation taking into

account the results obtained during personnel

decision-making. Within the evaluation system, a

mechanism for servicemen self-evaluation has also

been introduced, and specific criteria for

performance evaluation have been developed. An

important step towards the optimization of human

resource policy was the introduction of a single

automated information and analytical system of

personnel accounting.

Undoubtedly, the army must be highly

professional and unite no less highly motivated and

qualified soldiers, the selection of which must be

clear and reasoned. Thus, in an effective Armed

Forces, the algorithm for selecting professional

soldiers should be planned and evaluated. the latter

should be based not only on a clear personnel

strategy, but also meet the goals of the organization,

its strategic mission and vision [18].

Due to the defense reform, a number of

initiatives has already been implemented to

strengthen public motivation for military service.

Thus, the media regularly advertises contract

military service. Approaches to the selection of

candidates for contract military service have been

identified. Such a policy pays off, as the number of

people recruited on a contract basis is increasing

every year. However, it is too early to talk about a

problem-free military-patriotic upbringing of young

people. The overall effectiveness of measures to

involve individuals in military service remains

insufficient.

At the same time, it is necessary to note a

number of challenges which arose during the

implementation of the human resource management

system reform in the AF of Ukraine. These

problems are rather basic, as the key one is the low

quality of military training. Graduates of military

universities are not always ready to put the acquired

knowledge to use. There are also problems of poor

advanced training of the military.

As it has been mentioned earlier, the problem of

a biased assessment of the servicemen performance

during their certification also needs to be addressed.

There are difficulties in the rotation of servicemen,

uncertainty, lack of career growth planning and

forecasting.

The human resource management system of the

AF of Ukraine can be represented in the form of a

three-block-structure: the strategy of human

resource policy, the block of determining the

principles of human resource policy and personnel

administration (Fig. 1). The stage of defining the

strategy of human resource policy is a standardized

regulation of human resource management, that is

the definition of fundamentals and operation

principles and their legitimization in regulatory

documents. At the stage of determining the

principles of human resource policy tactics, certain

principles of decision-making are detailed, specific

forms and tools of personnel administration are

determined. At the stage of tactical implementation

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of human resource management the actual

implementation of assigned personnel

administration principles takes place via

engagement of certain methods tools.

Fig. 1: Features of the personnel management mechanism of the Armed Forces

It is important to have feedback in the system.

This means that analysis of personnel administration

outcome and evaluation of goals achievement

should be carried out. Recommendations on

amendments to the state policy on manning of the

AF of Ukraine should be formed basing on the

results of such analysis.

The external environment has a significant

impact on the human resource management system

of the armed forces, in particular, domestic socio-

economic trends, international politics and the

presence of external military threats.

Analysis of the implementation of the defense

manning reform of the AF of Ukraine showed that,

although the normatively defined principles of the

new human resource management system generally

meet modern international standards, in particular

those of NATO member states, their

implementation does not lead to expected results.

In our opinion, it occurs in response to

insufficiently effective tactical implementation of

the basic principles of human resource management

and inadequate feedback in the system. In other

words, there are implementation gaps at the stage of

personnel administration.

According to Semeniy, for the successful

construction of a smart defence system, it is

necessary to apply a systematic approach to

reforming the military sector - a new model of the

army (personnel, scheme of interaction and quality

of management, technical equipment), development

of military-industrial complex following the needs

of the new generation. modernization of existing

weapons, new high-quality models and their rapid

launch in a series), active practical cooperation with

foreign partners to gain the necessary best practices

and skills to use the latest equipment in an

integrated model of modern combat [31].

3.2 Areas of Improvement

Therefore, in order to address challenges connected

with the implementation of human resource policy

in the field of defense, we consider it necessary to

focus on the following areas of its improvement:

 Planning of personnel administration.

Planning of personnel management should consist

of continuous analysis and updating of the projected

number of persons recruited and discharged from

military service. It concerns more balanced planning

of the state order for military specializations in

higher educational institutions.

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 Improvement of educational methods in

military educational institutions: introduction of

innovative methods, update of physical

infrastructure, including state of art equipment,

simulators, educational literature. It is necessary to

take into account a need for instructor education as

they provide training and retraining of the military.

A serviceman must be not only a professional, but

also a person with high moral qualities, who is able

to take responsibility for solving complex military-

professional tasks, and such qualities must also be

nurtured.

 Introduction of individual plans into the

educational process / career of a serviceman. As

mentioned previously, today one of the principles of

the defense reform is the transition from command-

and-control methods to more personalized personnel

management. As part of this approach, it will be

appropriate to develop individual career plans for

servicemen.

First of all, vocational guidance should be

conducted. It can be carried out in the form of the

assessment by an expert commission and through

self-evaluation of knowledge, skills and needs of the

serviceman in order to offer the desired ways of

his/her further professional development. After that

an educational /advanced training plan which will

allow the serviceman to develop professionally

should be drawn.

 Retraining / advanced training. The condition

for the development of professionalism of a

specialist in any field is the constant improvement

of his/her skills. Timely knowledge update is

important in rapidly evolving conditions of military

affairs, when defense sector of Ukraine develops

and adaps to international norms. Today, in-service

training is sometimes treated irresponsibly, being

considered as unnecessary, but efforts should be

taken to support its quality at the appropriate level,

and to provide the availability of relevant teaching

materials and qualified instructors.

Within the framework of the cooperation

program between the AF of Ukraine and the forces

of NATO member states, it is necessary to

constantly increase the professional level of the

personnel of the AF of Ukraine in order to ensure

compatibility in joint exercises, certain international

security and peacekeeping operations. Cooperation

with foreign instructors could facilitate training of

specialists in NATO programs. Due to the

introduction of NATO standards in the activities of

the AF of Ukraine, the importance of foreign

language proficicency by the military should also be

noted. Today, foreign language courses do not show

desired outcome, which is preconditioned more by a

lack of motivation among servicemen than by a low

level of intructor qualification. In order to increase

motivation, it will be appropriate to introduce

additional bonuses to those who prove their foreign

language proficiency.

 Improvement of rotation mechanisms. It is

important to introduce a system of professional

selection, rotation and certification of servicemen

(in particular, officers), the introduction of a

planned promotion mechanism, the introduction of a

rating system for evaluation and promotion. In

particular, the prospects of rotating to NATO

member countries to share experiences should be

considered.

As indicated above, the problem is profanation

in the implementation of certain tools of human

resourse management, so it is important to control

and monitor the quality of their implementation

constantly.

In 2021, the analytical department of the public

organization "RETURN ALIVE!" (Within the

framework of the Initiative for the Development of

Analytical Centers in Ukraine, implemented by the

International Renaissance Foundation in

partnership with the Open Society Initiative for

Europe (OSIFE) with the financial support of the

Swedish Embassy in Ukraine) a study was prepared.

lose qualified personnel. In particular, it was

established that such problems as the attitude of the

military system, the quality of management and

leadership, processes and procedures inherent in the

Armed Forces of Ukraine, prevent the entry of new

promising personnel into the Armed Forces. Other

problems include the results of the study [27]:

1) Insufficient housing. The existing housing

stock in the form of barracks, even of an improved

type, does not provide servicemen with personal

space, while it is one of the greatest requirements

for housing. Other problems pointed out by the

respondents: insufficient number of official

housings, a non-transparent system of obtaining it,

regular removal of such housing from the fund

owned by the Ministry of Defense.

2) Imbalance of working and personal time.

This problem is related to the army's non-

compliance with the requirements of the legislation

on the standardization of the working day and the

inability to plan personal life due to the high

intensity of involvement of units in combat training,

participation in "Joint Forces Operation", etc. 14

Section 2 The legislation provides for a non-

standard working day for servicemen during their

stay on training grounds or in the area of the Joint

Forces Operation and an 8-hour working day for

servicemen of contract service during their stay in

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the military unit. But in practice, the working day in

a military unit often exceeds 8 hours.

3) Bureaucracy in the army. In general, the

problem of bureaucracy can be described by the

number of documents that servicemen need to keep

in command positions. Thus, the platoon

commander in the environmental protection zone

fills in 13 journals, diagrams, tables, etc., as well as

some so-called formalized documents. This leads to

the fact that the team devotes up to 90% of office

time to paperwork, while there is almost no staff

left.

4) Imbalance in military self-development and

career growth. Problems in this area are reduced to

the quality of military training in training centres,

the content of military service, the circumstances

associated with the planning of exercises and the

distribution of servicemen in positions. Quite often,

respondents noted the unsatisfactory quality of

training in training centres. This situation is due to

the insufficient practical training of acquired skills,

involvement of servicemen in the performance of

economic work, low qualification of instructors

(sometimes yesterday's conscripts) who have to

teach something new, in particular to people with

combat experience. One of the biggest stimuli for

servicemen is the filling of military service during

the stay of units in the military unit. This is since in

the military unit the service is largely reduced to the

performance of non-military tasks.

5) Financial security plays not the least role in

motivating people to work. The problems in this

area are that the level of financial support is low

given the tasks set before the military, and the

system of monetary support does not encourage

people to take on additional responsibilities.

6) Quality management and leadership.

According to the respondents, the problems with

management and leadership in the Armed Forces are

an echo of the old conscript army, which was

formed on a coercive basis. old approaches to

management, such as humiliation, inability to

communicate with personnel and superior treatment,

are most common among old-school officers

without combat experience and so-called military

retirees who returned to the Armed Forces after the

war in eastern Ukraine and returned en masse with

the old approaches.

7) Participation in hostilities. Some servicemen

signed a contract with the Armed Forces motivated

to fight in eastern Ukraine as part of the Joint

Forces. It is important for them to feel involved in

the common cause, the liberation of the occupied

territories and the protection of relatives.

8) The lack of proper selection for military

service is a consequence of the low number of units,

due to which the military registration and enlistment

offices are subject to mandatory recruitment plans.

According to analysts of the public organization

"RETURN ALIVE!", to solve the above problems

should be [27]:

i. It is recommended to build and re-equip the

existing housing stock (barracks and dormitories)

to provide servicemen with the most comfortable

personal space. For example, the US Air Force

implements the Dorms-4-Airmen concept, where

128 servicemen live in a dormitory in 32

apartments (4 people each). Each has its own

room and shower but shares a kitchen and living

room with the other three. The issue of service

housing in the form of service apartments can be

resolved by increasing funding for the

construction of such housing and the transition

from the model of office housing to the model of

staff housing. This will ensure the preservation of

the housing stock in the ownership of the Ministry

of Defense of Ukraine, as housing will be

assigned not to a serviceman, but to a certain

position and, accordingly, will be transferred to

the position.

According to Deputy Defense Minister Oleksiy

Martsenyuk, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have a

huge amount of surplus property and land that can

be used for investment housing. Currently, the

Ministry of Defense together with deputies is

preparing a bill that will take into account all the

risks of investment construction. According to

Martsenyuk: “Ukraine is the only post-Soviet

country that buys and builds apartments for the

army. Leading countries, especially our NATO

partners, have long departed from this type of

security, instead of using monetary security. This

includes financial leasing, preferential lending,

etc.” The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has

already prepared a list of land plots for tenders for

investment development [30].

ii. Introduce benefits that the military family needs.

These could be, for example, subsidized pediatric

programs for military families. Families also need

to be provided with housing and related

infrastructure, such as kindergartens. This will

create additional incentives to transport the family

to the garrison where the serviceman serves and,

consequently, reduce the number of those who are

dismissed because the family lives in another

locality.

iii. It is necessary to determine what part of the

processes can be completely translated into the

electronic form or even reconsider their

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feasibility. safety briefings should be conducted

annually or once when signing a contract or

entering a new position. Accordingly, the Armed

Forces of Ukraine have the right to expect that

servicemen can understand and follow safety rules

after 1-2 briefings. Because in practice military

personnel do not always meet these requirements,

the introduction of quality selection can solve this

problem.

iv. To correct the situation with the quality of

training, it is recommended to introduce a

mechanism for evaluating instructors and teachers

by cadets. This will provide feedback and help

change approaches to teaching. It is also important

to acquaint candidates for military service with its

actual content. In this context, it is correct to

introduce the military rank of a conscript in the

Armed Forces of Ukraine. He will enter into a

probationary contract without completing a full

course of military training. This will allow him to

decide whether he is ready to be a soldier and the

army to make sure that a contract should be signed

with this person.

v. Introduce a system of monetary support, which

would focus on the market salaries of civilian

counterparts in military positions. To do this, it is

necessary to introduce a grading system, the

essence of which is to determine the value of a

position to achieve the goal of the organization

and determine the monetary equivalent of such

value. Its implementation requires the

involvement of civilian HR specialists. Grading

will help to avoid the injustice of the current cash

security system and will encourage servicemen to

grow professionally, as the grading system does

not provide for the levelling of the level of cash

security with additional payments.

vi. Curricula in military higher education institutions

and training centres should be revised and

improved. Leadership courses, as well as

programs of the humanities (sociology,

psychology, ethics) with the appropriate content

and quality of teaching, should become a

mandatory component of the training of

commanders at all levels.

vii. Monitoring should be carried out regularly

(monitoring means constant monitoring of certain

processes. According to the conclusions of the

monitoring results, management decisions are

proposed) of the results of leadership courses. The

projected effect should be to improve the

atmosphere in the units and increase the

satisfaction of subordinates with their

commanders, and commanders with their

subordinates.

viii. Soldiers who joined the army from the standpoint

of participation in hostilities should be offered

such tasks in which they will be maximally

realized. One way to help keep these people in

the military could be to expand Ukraine's

peacekeeping operations and increase

participation in military missions around the

world.

ix. Full selection for military service in the Armed

Forces of Ukraine should be introduced. At the

same time, it is necessary to change the approach

to determining fitness for health and make a list

of diseases that do not actually affect fitness. The

purpose of selection should be the gradual

emergence of a critical mass of "motivated"

servicemen in the units. Their presence in the

required number will positively affect the

atmosphere in the unit and at the same time will

become the standard of behaviour for those who

tend to behave like the majority.

As of July 2021, the Ukrainian Parliament has

prepared for the second reading - a draft law on

amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On social

and legal protection of servicemen and members

of their families” [29]. In particular, a significant

change that many ex-servicemen expect is the

retention of soldiers who are entitled to a military

pension. They want to secure the right to be on

the waiting list in the military unit after receiving

discharge from military service until they receive

housing or, if they wish, monetary compensation,

and in case of disbandment of the unit - in

military commissariats and apartment

maintenance bodies.

As for various types of military leave, there are

also significant positive changes. Legislators plan

to expand the types of leaves that are in the

legislation for the military. These include annual

leave, leave for conscripts and cadets, leave for

women servicemen in connection with pregnancy

and childbirth, for caring for a child up to the age

of three, sick leave and family circumstances. All

of them can be provided during the period,

especially for the current period.

The drafters of the bill significantly expand the

types of leave, including medical leave,

additional study leaves, additional leave for

combatants and persons with disabilities due to

war, additional leave for servicemen -

participants in the liquidation of the Chernobyl

accident category 2, additional leave for

servicemen who have children or an adult child

with a disability from childhood [28].

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4 Improving Training Efficiency

To achieve continuous improvement in the RC

school system, decision makers must be able to

continually measure performance and efficiency. An

important recommendation from today is the

recommendation from the Arroyo Center, which

emphasizes that the army should implement a

system of quantitative monitoring in order to

establish relevant performance indicators, goals, and

tasks for systematic monitoring of quality and level

of progress. As a result, it will be possible to focus

more on the current challenges that may occur when

achieving results and identify appropriate solutions.

[19].

An illustrative example is the case of the

Australian Army, which in the recent past has

adopted an updated system of physical employment

standard (PES) assessments for active-duty

servicemen, which has a direct correlation with the

physical capabilities required to perform military

tasks. Yes, today, muscle strength and critical

physical ability are a must-assess performance [20].

According to Army researcher Dr. Alec Koppel

(US Army Combat Capabilities Development

Command, now known as DEVCOM, Army

Research Laboratory), these training components

help autonomous agents to reason and adapt to

changing conditions on the battlefield. According to

the expert, the key mechanism for adaptation and

redevelopment consists of a policy based on

reinforcement. Researcher Koppel believes that the

vector of increasing this policy may be the further

implementation of the operational concept of MDO

in reality [21].

A clear example of the above context is the

situation with the United States Air Force (USAF),

which noted that their fighter pilots do not currently

have sufficient access to airspace training grounds,

threat emitters, targets and electronic support

capabilities capable of represent advanced potential

adversaries. The answer to this challenge was the

decision of the US Air Force, which is already

developing a plan to modernize certain ranges with

these capabilities [22].

For individual Army schools to plan and

schedule training more efficiently, accurate and

timely estimates of student enrollments are needed.

One way to accomplish this is to increase the

flexibility of the signup system by, for example,

earlier reassignment of training seats from units not

using them to others that could [23].

Mcardle, Kehr and Colabatistto emphasize, the

increased employment of a synthetic environment

may have broader strategic warfighting benefits.

Indeed, while exercises can serve multiple purposes

in times of peace and war — such as demonstrating

resolve, reducing tensions, or deterrence — they can

also, in certain circumstances, alert an adversary to

emerging innovative technologies, concepts of

operations, or more tailored force structures [24].

An example that determines the expert opinion from

the point of view of the Ukrainian present is the

reaction of the current Russian authorities to large-

scale military exercises of NATO and Ukraine:

DEFENDER-Europe 21 and Sea Breeze-2021.

Thus, according to Deputy Foreign Minister A.

Rudenko, "Moscow takes into account the rhetoric

of the Ukrainian authorities regarding a possible

military confrontation and is aware of Kyiv's

military preparations with the help of its Western

partners." However, he did not rule out the

possibility of a "military scenario in the

development of Russian-Ukrainian relations," and

also said that "the Russian military budget already

has a corresponding item of expenditure" [34].

According to McGee, “We must be prepared to

fight large-scale combat operations in the future

against near-equal threats. That is why we need to

expand our forces as much as possible, and one of

our real strengths is our people". In the context of

the topic of the scientific article, this conclusion

seems to us quite relevant and necessary in the

context of reforming the Ukrainian army, which

after the beginning of the Russian aggression in

2014, is actively renewed and becomes a soldier-

centric [25].

We agree that process changes are needed to

address the existing problems. Comprehensive

changes must affect both the strategic and

operational levels. Soldiers and military personnel

must learn new complex processes. Ukraine as a

state should not demand high-quality performance

of tasks from a serviceman without providing him

with all the necessary material and intangible

resources. At the same time, the state should not

turn a serviceman into another beneficiary. It should

assess the contribution of each serviceman to the

achievement of the goals of the Armed Forces of

Ukraine and provide him with decent compensation

[27].

5 Conclusions and Perspectives of

Further Research

Further implementation of defense reform in terms

of human resourse policy transformation requires

increased control over the quality of mechanisms for

human resourse management. The analysis showed

that there are risks of insufficiently responsible

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attitude to personnel management, which is

manifested in biased performance assessment, lack

of rotation, low advanced training outcome.

These challenges can be solved by

strengthening the monitoring of human resourse

services that interact directly with the military. The

servicemen training system, the quality of the

educational process in military educational

institutions, and the system of advanced training

also require improvement. It is necessary to use the

tool of individual career plans for servicemen,

which would include subsystems of career guidance,

evaluation and self-evaluation, determination of

professional skills and abilities, training / retraining

/ advanced training planning and forecasting further

career development.

This article describes ways to improve

management such as planning of personnel

administration, improvement of educational

methods in military educational institutions,

introduction of individual plans into the educational

process and retraining / advanced training of

personnel.

The army and Ukraine in general need to work

to strengthen human capital. Ukraine needs new

military specialists and civil servants who have

qualitatively new knowledge who are ready to

combine this knowledge with the unique combat

experience they have gained while defending

Ukraine. New professionals who will receive high

positions must be able to work in a new professional

cultural environment. A new culture is an

opportunity for a different organization of work,

where authority is delegated, where there is

collective thinking, decision-making, where there is

the ability to apply the latest technologies and

digital networks and where there is the ability to

work in a multinational environment. a

multinational group implements such a decision

[26].

Improving the personnel management system

will facilitate manning of the AF of Ukraine due to

the implementation of effective military career

management mechanisms, a transparent selection

system, further implementation of automated

personnel accounting and management systems.

Further research within the framework of the

identified issues should be aimed at developing

specific tools for human resource policy and human

resource management technology in the AF of

Ukraine.

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Contribution of Individual Authors to the

Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting

Policy)

Vita Halushka wrote 30% of the paper

Hryhorii Tikhonov wrote 15% of the paper

Yurii Mykolenko wrote 15% of the paper

Liudmyla Drok wrote 25% of the paper

Ivan Tikhonov wrote 15% of the paper

Sources of Funding for Research Presented

in a Scientific Article or Scientific Article

Itself

There was no additional funding.

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)

This article is published under the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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